Monday, September 25, 2017

In a land ruled and shaped by violent magical storms, power lies with those who control them.

Aurora Pavan comes from one of the oldest Stormling families in existence. Long ago, the ungifted pledged fealty and service to her family in exchange for safe haven, and a kingdom was carved out from the wildlands and sustained by magic capable of repelling the world’s deadliest foes. As the sole heir of Pavan, Aurora’s been groomed to be the perfect queen. She’s intelligent and brave and honorable. But she’s yet to show any trace of the magic she’ll need to protect her people.

To keep her secret and save her crown, Aurora’s mother arranges for her to marry a dark and brooding Stormling prince from another kingdom. At first, the prince seems like the perfect solution to all her problems. He’ll guarantee her spot as the next queen and be the champion her people need to remain safe. But the more secrets Aurora uncovers about him, the more a future with him frightens her. When she dons a disguise and sneaks out of the palace one night to spy on him, she stumbles upon a black market dealing in the very thing she lacks—storm magic. And the people selling it? They’re not Stormlings. They’re storm hunters.

Legend says that her ancestors first gained their magic by facing a storm and stealing part of its essence. And when a handsome young storm hunter reveals he was born without magic, but possesses it now, Aurora realizes there’s a third option for her future besides ruin or marriage.She might not have magic now, but she can steal it if she’s brave enough.

Challenge a tempest. Survive it. And you become its master.

I first picked up a copy of Roar at ALA midwinter back in January, because I've read some of Cora Carmack's NA romances, and I've loved them. Lucky for me, Ya fantasy is my favorite genre. So while I may have been surprised when I read the jacket copy, I wasn't disappointed.

Months went by and I never got a chance to read it. In fact, it wasn't until a couple months after I bought a finished copy that I finally dove into it. And all I can say is wow. Just wow.

I absolutely love the characters in this book. Roar is Princess Aurora of Pavan. She also goes by Rora. So to keep things straight, I'll just call her Roar. When she starts out, she's very accepting of her fate to marry the prince of Locke, Cassius. But when she hears him say something to his brother, she's determined she's never going to marry him. The only problem is that she doesn't possess any of the storm magic her family is known for to keep her kingdom safe from the incredibly deadly storms.

Roar goes through such an incredible journey throughout the entire book. I cannot wait to see how things play out in the next book.

Cassius. Oh Cassius. He's a great character. He would be terrible as a love interest. He's manipulative and cunning, but these make him a very compelling character. He has so many secrets, that I'm certain we haven't seen the last of them. I can't wait to see how his character might develop and to see what more he's hiding.

The worldbuilding was incredible. Deadly and violent storms with a mind all their own, intent on destroying people? Yep. Not to mention all different kinds of magic. I could talk a lot longer, but unfortunately, I don't have the time.

Overall
I'm glad I finally read this one. The next book is going to be one of my most anticipated reads of 2018.

Wednesday, September 20, 2017

You may have noticed a theme in my last Cross-Post over here. That theme being the fake-relationship trope. Yes, I have read enough of these lately to create a fake relationship goodreads shelf. And I need morrrrreee! So if you have recommendations, please just comment. Or email me. Or message me on twitter. Just, you know, give me all the fake relationship recs.

In the spirit of how I did my last post, I will not be giving the synopsis or buy links. Click on the cover picture to go to the goodreads page.

Monday, September 18, 2017

Princess Elyra Ballantyne has lost everything important to her—her father, her position, her freedom, and the one she loves. As rebellion festers beneath the city walls, and corruption spreads throughout the palace, she’s left with two choices: accept Minister General Pantone’s rule or rise up, learn to fight, and take back her country.

Thursday, September 14, 2017

It feels like most of what I've posted lately are life updates. So it goes.

But I swear I'm getting back into things. I even have a review written and at least three more in the works. Go me!

Okay, so for those of you who know that I am located in Florida, I did want to tell you that I'm okay and my house is okay after Hurricane Irma. I did have the unfortunate experience of coming home after evacuating to find that my home had been broken into. So that's an ongoing thing now.

The other bit of news I have is that I decided (instead of beginning to query) to post Spy Project up on Swoon Reads. I don't think it's 100% there, but I'm not completely sure what to do with it. So I'd love feedback.

I've talked a lot about Spy Project over the last year or so. It's one of my favorite manuscripts. So you guys can officially know now that my working title for this one is Cloak & Dagger. I hope that if it ever does get published, it gets something that stands out more lol.

Anyway, if you're at all curious, you can find Cloak & Dagger over on Swoon Reads (right here). I'll also be adding it to the menu at top, much like Iron Curse was there.

Tuesday, September 5, 2017

BeforeMira Minkoba is the Hopebearer. Since the day she was born, she’s been told she’s special. Important. Perfect. She’s known across the Fallen Isles not just for her beauty, but for the Mira Treaty named after her, a peace agreement which united the seven islands against their enemies on the mainland. But Mira has never felt as perfect as everyone says. She counts compulsively. She struggles with crippling anxiety. And she’s far too interested in dragons for a girl of her station.AfterThen Mira discovers an explosive secret that challenges everything she and the Treaty stand for. Betrayed by the very people she spent her life serving, Mira is sentenced to the Pit–the deadliest prison in the Fallen Isles. There, a cruel guard would do anything to discover the secret she would die to protect. No longer beholden to those who betrayed her, Mira must learn to survive on her own and unearth the dark truths about the Fallen Isles–and herself–before her very world begins to collapse.

Friday, August 18, 2017

So as I mentioned in my last update (forever ago), I've read a fair amount of contemporary romance lately. And, of course, I didn't review any of it lmao. I did, however, post super short reviews on Goodreads for many of them, so I'm just cross-posting the few sentences to few paragraphs, in case you guys were curious what I've been reading and what I thought.

I'm going to keep these as short as possible. So no jacket copies, no buy links. Click on the cover picture to bring up the GR page.

So this book uses one of my favorite tropes, but with a twist. It's a combination of fake romance and friends to lovers. And it was excellentttttt. I love those tropes.

On the first day of school, Jenny and Chance fool everyone into thinking they've known each other for years. In a surprise assignment where they have to talk about their summer vacations, they play off each other so well, that their entire class believes they have been best friends all their lives. And when they decide to continue on with the lie, no one thinks twice.

I loved Chance and Jenny together so much. They were hilarious, and the way they interacted constantly made me smile. Their fake friendship blossoms into one where they are truly best friends. Since they had never even spoken to each other before, it seems that it's just easier for them to talk to each other. And as they get to know each other, they challenge each other with different stories, rules, and dares.

I had one real gripe about this book, and that was that it was not diverse at all. My high school was 95% white, so I get that this does happen. But there was also no sexual diversity, and that seems unlikely. Not everyone in life is blond and straight.

Of course, I'd personally rather no diversity than having it handled poorly (just my opinion). But it was still a disappointment.

Overall, I thought it was a cute and fast read. I loved the characters, and couldn't get enough of them.

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This one was just okay for me. I enjoyed reading it, but I didn't get all the touchy and tingly feels about out main couple. I don't know, I just didn't connect with them the way I would've loved to. Still, it was a cute and fast read. If you like these romance books with fake relationship tropes (like I do), definitely give it a read.

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It's not secret that I've been on some kind of contemporary romance kick lately. Especially when it comes to fake relationship books. And this is probably my favorite of my recent reads so far.

The romance is cute and sweet, and I loved Oak and Vaughn together. The story was definitely typical of the trope, but it wasn't 100% predictable. And I loved seeing the relationship between Vaughn and her siblings. I admit it, I'm a sucker for happy sibling relationships.

So as a struggling family in LA, Vaugh and her older sister are working hard just to make ends meat and send their little brothers to college. So of course when Vaughn gets offered and absurd amount of money to play the girlfriend to obnoxious rock star Oakley Ford, she says yes against her better judgement. But maybe Oakley isn't quite as bad as she initially thought. Even if he is a jerk.

One of the things I loved was that we got to hear from Oakley's POV as well as Vaughn's. I love reading from the male POV in books, and this was no exception. Seeing their relationship blossom was heartwarming, and I would have loved an even longer book or a follow up novel about the two of them. Can't wait to read other things from this author.

If you haven't read the first book, I beg you to stop reading. In fact, I hope you didn't even read the book synopsis. I fell in love with The Remnant Chronicles right from the start. The Heart of Betrayal was easily my most anticipat...